Railway spike lock



April 2, 1935 o. P. HARRIS ET A| RAILWAY SPIKE LOCK Filed March 2, 1934 3rwentors: o/eq/v P/IqER/J Pqu; E. 755661905;

Patented Apr. 2, 1935 UNITED STATES" RAILWAY SPIKE Lock Oran P. Harris and Paul E. Teegarden,

Richmond, Ind.

Application Marchz, 1934, Serial No. 7139709 8 Claims.

contact with each other; said means being very simple in construction, easy of placement in position, diflicult of inadvertent or unauthorized removal, and which can be manufactured and installed'at a very small cost.

Otherminor objects, and particular advantages, of our invention, and the operation required in relationto the installation of our invention, will be fully set-forth, in the following description thereof, and that which is new will be correlated in the appended claims.

The preferred means for carrying out the principles of our invention in a mechanically and economical manner, is shown in the accompanying one-sheet of drawings, in which-- Figure 1 is a front elevation of one of our lock devices alone. I

Figure 2 is an edge view of the same.

Figure 3 represents a sectional View of a railway-rail,.and a portion of a railway-tie, by which the rail is supported, as taken longitudinally through one of the spikes and its locking means, as shown in vertical section, and also showing one of the spikes in elevation, but located beyond the first spikes and locking means.

. Figure 4 is a plan view, as taken from the line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

Figure 5 is similar to that of Fig. 4, but showing how the parts appear prior to the insertion of a spike into its final position.

Similar indices designate like parts throughout the several views.

In order that the construction, the operation, and the several advantages of our invention may. be more fully. and clearly comprehended, we will now take up a detailed description thereof, in which we will set'forth the same as briefly as we may.

First we will explain that the basis for 0minvention comprises the railway-tie A, across which extends the rail B having the base flanges B, as shown in Fig. 3, which are secured in place by a plurality of spikes C, each of which has a head portion C. Said members are of the usual construction, and we make no claim thereto.

Our looking or anchoring device consists of an elongated rectangular shaped section. of rather thick malleable strap-iron, or the like, presenting a face side and an inner side, and forming a lower major portion 1, and an upper minor portion l', which latter, when in use, becomes the head portion of our'lock, said portions being divided, for clearness of explanation only, ;;by the dotted line XX as shown in Figures 1 and2. Protruding outwardly andupwardly, atan an, gle, from the edges of the face side of themajor portion -I-,' is'a plurality of spaced apart prongs I and l which are located at therespective edges thereof, and in this instance they are integral therewith; and are-formed by portions thereof, as is indicated in the drawing,

Preferably the prongs, of either edgeare' located on a different plane from that of the-other side, whereby they are staggered with relation; toeach other, as shown in Fig. 1.

In practice our invention may be provided for in a' variety of ways, as for'instanc'e, by the provision of a round aperture 2, which is bored from the surface of and into the tie A, as indicated in Fig. 5, the same being extended .to adepth somewhat. less than the length of the spikeC, that is a to a point to which the lower end of the lock may finally extend, as shown in Fig. 2; Also, said apere ture 2'is to be formed adjacent the'edge of the fiangeBoftherailB,

It-is tobe understood that ,the aperture 2 may be formed in the nature of a s1ot,'whose diameter should be substantially equal .tothat of thebody of the spikeC, plus the thickness of the member, I Inplacingourlock l,in operativeposition,we first insert the lower portion thereof into said aperture, as in Fig. 5. We next insertthe lower endofthe spike into said aperture and in engagement with the inner side of the member I, and the spike is then driven down intosaid aperture 2, in theusual manner until the head 0 of the spike. engages tightly with the flange of the rail, as shown in Fig. 3. The upper or head portion I of our lock is then bent over onto the'surface of the head C of the spike, to its final securing position, as shown in Fig. 3. It is to be observed that driving the spike into said aperture will cause the prongs, l and l to be driven intothe tie-A; and their position being such that our lock can not be removed without first removing the spike, and as the spike can not be removed without turning the member I back to or beyond alignment with the member I, therefore it is evident that the spike 50 C will be substantially locked in its functioning position, as shown in Fig. 3. 1

While it may not be necessary, it may be desired to secure the member I to the head of the spike,

which may be accomplished in either of several ways, as for instance, by soldering or welding the edges of the member I into connection with the head C, which Welding is indicated by the numeral 3 in Fig. 4.

Having now fully shown and described our invention, what we claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-- l. A railway spike lock comprising a fiat elongated member having two substantially vertical edge portions, a plurality of prongs formed by and integral with each of said edge portions and angularly disposed with relation thereto, said prongs of each edge portion being in alternate position vertically with relation to the prongs of the other edge portion and projecting in the same general direction, substantially as shown.

2. A railway'spike lock consisting of a sheetmetal strip with its lower major portion adapted to be inserted in an aperture, prongs formed by and projecting upwardly and outwardly at an acute angle'from' the edges of the lower portion and from the same side of said strip with the prongs'oi eachone of said edges arranged alternately with relation to the prongs of the other edge of said strip, all of said prongs being adapted to engage with the wall of said aperture when a spike is driven into said aperture in contact-with said strip, and with the upper portion of-said strip adapted to be bent over onto the head of aspike after the spike has been driven into said aperture. '3. A railway spike lock adapted to be placed in a previously formed aperture in a railway tie, said spike lock comprising a single piece of metal having two vertical edges with prongs extending upwardly and outwardly from the same side of V a previously formed aperture in a railway tie before a spike is driven thereinto, said spike lock comprising a strip having two vertical edges parallel with each other, each of said edges having a plurality of prongs extending upwardly and outwardly at acute angles parallel with each other, with'each of said prongs located on a horizontal plane different from the others and'projecting from the same side of said strip, said prongsof one edge being alternately arranged with relation to the prongs of the opposite edge and the upper portion of said metal strip being adapted to be turned over the head portion of a railway spike.

5. In combination with a railway tie having a vertical aperture extending downwardly into said tie; a spike lock formed by a single strip of flat metal, prongs formed by and extending upwardly at an acute angle from each edge of one side of said strip, with the upper portion of said strip adapted to be bent over onto the head of a spike which has been driven into said aperture and pressing said prongs into the wall of said aperture, all substantially as shown and described and for the purposes set forth.

6. A railway spike lock consisting of an elongated flat strip of metal forming a major portion and a minor upper portion, a plurality of prongs projecting from the two edges of one side of the major portion of the strip and all projecting in the same general direction at an acute angle in an upward direction, with the upper minor portion of said strip adapted to be bent over at an angle with relation to the major portion of the said strip, all substantially as shown.

7. A spike lock formed by a single strip of metal presenting a face side and an inner side and consisting of a major lower portion and a minor upper portion, a plurality of sharp-pointed prongs projecting upwardly and outwardly from the edges of the face side of the major portion, with the upper part of the minor portion adapted to be bent over into contact with the head of a spike while the body portion of the spike is in contact with the inner side of the major portion of the lock, substantially as set forth.

8. In combination with a railway spike having a head portion and a body portion, and a railway I tie having an aperture therein into which said spike may be driven; a lock member formed of a single strip of metal presenting a face side and an inner side, with its lower portion adapted to be inserted into said aperture, with its upper portion extending thereabove, a plurality of prongs projecting upwardly and outwardly at an angle from the edges of the face side of the lower portion of the lock member and adapted to be forced into the Wall of said aperture as the spike is being driven into said aperture, and with the upper portion of said lock member adapted to be bent over onto the head of said spike for retaining the spike in said aperture and with the spike retaining said prongs in the wall of said aperture.

ORAN P. HARRIS. PAUL E. TEEGARDEN. 

